Dust: Tales of the Other World
by Light Wolf Moon
Summary: General Gaius is dead and Dust thought it was the end when he became trapped in the volcano. What he didn't expect to happen was him living through it and end up in a completely different world much like his own in a scenario similar to what he had faced. This time it is the Warmbloods that are in trouble, the Moonbloods hunting them down. How will Dust handle it this time?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DUST: AN ELYSIAN TALE! IT BELONGS TO ITS ORIGINAL OWNER!**

As Dust landed the final blow on General Gaius, ending the battle between them, an explosion of magma went off behind Dust, injuring him. He blacked out for a few moments, the volcano starting to become active as the magma flowed like a raging river.

"Cassius!" General Gaius yelled.

Dust started crawling towards the ledge that he held onto. Once he reached it, he shakily held out his hand.

"You... you're not Cassius," General Gaius said as he held onto Dust's arm, looking up at him.

"Yes, I am," Dust responded, nodding his head.

"Yes... you are. But Cassius is gone now... as is the world we once loved," was the general's answer as he closed his eyes. He grabbed onto Dust's arm with his other hand and pulled himself up a litter, opening his eyes to look at Dust in the eye. "Cherish it."

With that, he threw himself off, falling into the mouth of the Everdawn Basin. Dust reached out to try and grab him, but lowered his head in defeat. He rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes.

_Dust?! Dust!? _ Someone was calling his name. Dust opened his eyes halfway.

"Fidget! There I see him!" Ginger cried out from above at the mouth of the Everdawn Basin.

Fidget came flying over, calling, "Dust!? Dust!"

Dust was weakly pulling himself up, bracing against a rock. "Fidget, get out. Go," he said as he turned to look at her, making a 'get out of here' gesture.

Her voice trembling, she told him, "Not without you! C'mon, Dust! Get up!" She grabbed onto his cape and tried to pull him up, trying to drag him with her. "We did everything right, Dust... Everything we were supposed to do," she said, trying not to cry as she dropped his cape that she was holding.

"And sometimes that's not enough, Fidget. When the Life Thread calls-..." Dust looked away from her, closing his eyes. Fidget looked down sadly, trying her hardest not to let her tears flow. "Fidget... thank you," he told her, looking back up at her.

"Goodbye... Dust," Fidget said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Dust watched her fly out of the Everdawn basin, and saw Ginger gazing down at him sadly from the mouth. He closed his eyes as the magma flowed around him, devouring anything in its path. Then it flowed on him. Dust felt a tugging, almost like something was guiding him. His essence flew with the wind, carrying Ahrah with it.

**AN: Hello everyone, this isn't my first story, but this is my first story here on FF. To be honest, I had a little bit of a hard time trying to type this part up since the scene was a little sad to not only watch but to type, too. I had to watch the ending cutscene a few times to actually get it typed. I have no idea whether I want to consider this an AU or not given the plot I have in mind, but I guess I'll see where this goes. As a heads up, it will follow a similar plot, but it will contain some original ideas. Also, my FC will be showing up in the story.**

****But if anyone does spot a small mistake I missed feel free to point it out. It helps me out a little when trying to make sure each chapter is grammatically correct without any spelling errors**.**


	2. Chapter 1

Cool grass swayed gently in the breeze, brushing against Dust's fur. He opened his, seeing the blue sky above him surrounded by the leaves of the trees. He sat up slowly, rubbing his head with his hand. He was shocked. The last thing he remembered was the fight in the Everdawn Basin and the magma coming at him. He looked around and recognized where he was. He was back at the Glade. He spotted Ahrah next to him. Picking him up, he asked the sword, "Ahrah, how... how did I survive? The magma should have killed me."

"I do not know, Dust. However you survived is unknown. I sense something is amiss, however," the sword replied.

"Amiss? What's wrong?" Dust asked, confused.

"I'm not sure. Aurora Village is nearby. Let us head there and find out," Ahrah told Dust.

"Alright," Dust said.

Dust got up and started heading down the mountain. As usual there were monsters, but they weren't hard to beat. It took sometime for Dust to make his way down the mountainside, but not as long as the first time. This time he knew where to go. Dust was beginning to miss having Fidget around. Her constant chatter and humor had made the journey less quiet. The only one he had with him was Ahrah. The rain came and went as he walked. He trekked to a cliff edge a little further down the mountain, taking in the scene. He saw off in the distance a village, one which he knew well: Aurora Village. Dust hiked down to the valley floor and started to continue until Ahrah stopped him.

"Take care Dust, we are not alone. Someone else is here as well," the sword spoke.

"Who?" Dust asked, looking around in between the trees.

No answer was needed as he spotted a familiar sight of armor. He knew right away that they were General Gaius's men. Dust was careful as he sneaked past them, hiding behind trees when they turned around. He couldn't figure out why they were in The Glade. There was nothing important here as far as he knew. He thought that perhaps they were looking for revenge for the death of their general.

As soon as he was far enough away from them, Dust asked, "Ahrah, do you have any idea why they are here?"

"I do not know. What ever they are here for, they didn't seem to notice your presence. It would be best to leave here before they do notice you are here," Ahrah suggested.

"Good idea," Dust replied as he carefully made his way to Aurora Village. He stopped whenever he heard a noise and carefully kept an eye out for the soldiers. Dust walked past the house that belonged to Cora, the elderly person that he had helped out before. He remembered that she had said that she felt the Life Thread calling for her back in The Sorrowing Meadows and wondered how she was doing now. Was she finally with her husband? He shook his head and continued on his way. He knew she was with the Life Thread now. Dust went on his way to the farm that belonged to an old married couple, Oneida and Geehan. As he neared it, he saw a couple soldiers of General Gaius's army. They were fending off some monsters that wandered too close to the farmland. Dust saw that they could handle them, so he sneaked around the back and quickly left.

"This is too weird. General Gaius never had his army down this far. You were right Ahrah, something is not right here," Dust said once they were out of earshot.

"We may find the answers in Aurora Village. Make haste, but be careful. Until we know they're plans, it would be wise to avoid confrontation with them," the Elysium Sword said.

"Yes, and hopefully we can figure it out," Dust replied.

Aurora Village wasn't too far away. The farmlands were located just outside of Aurora Village so the trip there was pretty short. The village guards, Calum and Bean, were on duty and standing near the front gates. As soon as they saw him, they ran up to him.

"How did it go? Find any Moonbloods?" Bean asked.

"What? No, I didn't find any Moonbloods..." Dust replied, confused. _I didn't even see the merchant, Sereth..._

"None? I thought for sure there were Moonbloods," Calum said.

"As far as I saw, there weren't any. Perhaps one of the others may find something?" Dust suggested.

"Alright," Calum stated.

Dust walked away, making it look like he was having a conversation. He noticed that some of the men were looking at him and whispering, but he was too far away to hear what they were saying. When he saw a couple of them run off, Dust quickly started to head of the other gate to leave. He was about to leave before a couple of the soldiers approached him.

"Excuse me, you'll be coming with us," one of them said.

"And if I don't?" Dust asked.

"We'll take you by force," the other replied.

"What exactly do you need me for?" he asked.

"General Gaius wants to see you," was the soldier's reply.

_General Gaius?! He's alive?_ Was Dust's first thought. Instead, he only said, "What for?"

"You look suspiciously like someone," was the only response he received.

"It would be wise not to cause any trouble, Dust. It also appears that General Gaius is alive. Go with them. We may be able to find out something," Ahrah murmured so that only Dust could hear.

"Alright, I'll go," Dust said, replying to both the soldiers and to Ahrah.

The soldiers led Dust to the village center. Standing there in the center was General Gaius, talking to a couple of the soldiers. The soldiers ran off and General Gaius turned to look at them, surprise written on his face when he saw Dust.

"Cassius? Is that you my friend?" General Gaius asked, surprise and relief in his voice.

"General Gaius, how are you still alive? The last time we met we fought and I defeated you. You fell into the Everdawn Basin after the battle," Dust questioned instead.

Now not only did General Gaius look confused, he also looked worried. "What do you mean? We never fought and I never went to the Everdawn Basin. Cassius, what happened? What did those Moonbloods do to you?"

"I am not Cassius, Gaius. I am Dust. The Moonbloods did nothing to me. You're the one hunting them down!" Dust argued.

"Hunting them? Cassius, they're the ones hunting us! Don't you remember?" Gaius asked.

"I don't believe that!"

General Gaius was about to say something when two soldiers ran up to him. They noticed Dust, but they didn't say anything about him. Instead they informed General Gaius about spotting a group of Moonbloods close to the base of the mountain. They were fighting back, but was struggling to hold them off. He told them to return and that he would be there to help. They ran off to help their comrades, General Gaius taking a brief moment to look at Dust and say, "Cassius, if you don't believe me then come with me and see for yourself what those Moonbloods are doing" before following after them.

"Dust, follow them and see if what he says is true," Ahrah suggested.

"Good idea," Dust agreed.

Dust quickly followed after them. As he got closer, he heard sounds of battle. He broke through the brush and saw that at least twenty Moonbloods were fighting against fifteen soldiers. General Gaius was in the middle, outnumbered and fighting against two Moonbloods at once. Dust dove into the fray, attempting to locate the leader of this band of Moonbloods. He tried his hardest not to fight against either of the opposing sides. When he was able to locate him, he saw that he was fighting against General Gaius. Unfortunately, when he called out to the Moonblood, the Moonblood refused to listen and responded by attacking him. General Gaius took notice of this and blocked the attack on Dust, leaving himself open to attack from the other Moonblood. Dust saw this and attacked him, killing him in the process before retaliating against the leader. The Moonblood couldn't block, and before he died he saw Dust and whispered, "Sen-Mithrarin?"

The rest of the Moonbloods retreated upon seeing their fallen leader. The soldiers cheered upon the victory and seeing who they thought was Cassius. General Gaius approached Dust, saying, "Now do you see what I mean? We do not attack the Moonbloods, they attack us."

"I don't get it. Why are they attacking?" he asked.

"We do not know why they attack us. We were at peace with them for the longest time until this started," the general responded.

"When did it start?"

"A few years ago."

"Nothing makes sense. The Moonbloods wouldn't attack for no reason and how can General Gaius still be alive?" Dust muttered to himself.

"Cassius, do you believe me now? We can help you," General Gaius told Dust. "I do not know what happened that day, but whatever happened we can help you remember what you forgot and get rid of those lies that you know."

"This may be our only opportunity to find answers, Dust, as to what is going on. It may be best to pretend to be Cassius for a little while," the sword murmered so that only Dust could hear.

"Alright, I accept," Dust gave his answer.

"I knew that you might. Let us go home to rest and re-plan the attacks," the general said gratefully, a hint of his relief in his eyes.

"Home? Where's that?" Dust asked, confused.

General Gaius responded, "The capital, Salina."

The soldiers and Dust started heading back. Only General Gaius remained, pondering to himself, "Sen-Mithrarin? What did that Moonblood mean, calling Cassius that?"


	3. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DUST: AN ELYSIAN TALE! IT BELONGS TO ITS ORIGINAL OWNER! I ONLY OWN RAPTURE!**

They stayed in Aurora Village for a couple more days to ensure the Moonbloods would not come back. The village guards assured them as the army left that they would be fine. The small army would trek to the entrance of Archer's Pass where some bombers would pick them up and return to the capital. The trip to Archer's Pass would take a couple weeks and from there a two day flight in the bombers. General Gaius was at the front, Dust next to him. Dust and Ahrah had spoken that night after discovering General Gauis was alive. They both agreed that with the Moonbloods so hostile, trying to get to Elder Grey Eyes and speak to him would be close to impossible; even if the Moonbloods recognize him as a Sen-Mithrarin still. Ahrah wasn't even certain that going to the Moobloods would be wise at the moment, sensing that their hostility towards the Warmbloods might cloud their thinking and end up attacking Dust without realizing who he is. Another reason would be because General Gaius's soldiers were around and he didn't want to start any unnecessary fights or have them follow him to Everdawn Basin. Dust and General Gaius were chatting along the way to Archer's Pass, Dust pretending to be his friend Cassius as best he can.

"This reminds me of before you disappeared. The difference is is before we were stopping the Moonblood attacks. Now we're heading back to the capital for a little while," General Gaius said.

"Yes. It'll be nice to see Salina again," Dust responded.

"Your apprentice will be really happy to see you again, too," General Gaius told Dust.

"What do you mean 'apprentice'? I have an apprentice?" Dust questioned.

General Gaius had a dark look on his face, but it passed just as fast as it appeared. "Yes, you have an apprentice. Her name is Rapture and she has been your apprentice for six years."

_Cassius had an apprentice? _"What's she like?" Dust asked.

"She's a fast learner. She was ten when she became your apprentice and has learned allot since then. She's accomplished a few missions she was sent on, although they were rather easy scout missions. She's not old enough, however, to be on the battlefield so she stays behind when you go. Rapture is serious and stubborn at times, but other times she acts like a child. Her bad habit of staying up late at night sometimes to read a book has gotten her into more trouble that I can count when it came time for her training sessions. Your patience with her is outstanding. Normally you would not tolerate such behavior or have such patience, but I believe that her skills have surpassed your tolerance and had you find a little extra patience," General Gaius informed him.

"How did she even become my apprentice?"

"We were wandering through the city one day while she and her friends were playing. It was during their game that you noticed that her talents were similar to that of an assassin's. You knew her older brother was already in the army so you spoke to him about her. He even agreed with you and mentioned that she wanted to be an assassin when she was old enough to join. After speaking to her, she accepted the apprenticeship when she was a couple years older. Needless to say her parents were thrilled. After all, they, too, were soldiers just as were the rest of their lineage."

"It's easy to see where she gets her talents from. Her brother must have been happy to hear about that as well," Dust remarked.

"Indeed he was. When we thought you died a year ago, he pleaded that she not be informed until we were certain of it. He knew that she wouldn't believe it and might demand to search for you herself. Needless to say that she did exactly that when she was informed. The king refused her request, stating that he would not send her out on a useless mission after hearing the reports. She got reprimanded several times for trying to sneak out. Her training was transferred to another assassin as soon as she calmed down enough to continue."

"Will she still be my apprentice?"

"It depends. If it falls to her to make the decision of who will be her mentor, I believe she will choose you. You were her first mentor, Cassius, and thus she is just as loyal to you as she is to the king," General Gaius told him and laughed a little. "Of course, she has also been complaining about how her current mentor is boring and slow paced with the training."

"Then she'll be glad when she sees me I suppose," Dust said.

"Indeed she will be."

Two weeks later they had made it to Archer's Pass. Along the way they spotted Moonblood patrols, but they steered clear of them since they weren't causing trouble. The bomber planes were waiting at the base for them to arrive. Dust was a little uncertain, but he went aboard anyway to keep his cover. The pilots were surprised to see him and General Gaius told them what happened. Although they were relieved to see he was alright, they were worried about what supposedly happened to him. They stopped and rested at night and resumed their travel in the morning. On the second day they arrived at the capital. The palace towered over them as they landed on the castle grounds. Other soldiers gathered around to greet the returning group. They were surprised to see Dust, as they, too, mistakened him for Cassius. Dust wasn't used to any of this as he normally only had Fidget and Ahrah for company. He was grateful that at least General Gaius took over to shoo them off. It was only then that a shrill voice was heard shouting, "MASTER CASSIUS!"

Dust and General Gaius looked and saw a young grey wolf dressed in an assassin's uniform running towards them. She skidded to a stop in front of Dust, saying, "I knew it wasn't true! It just couldn't have been! I'm so happy to see you're alright, Master!"

"Um, hello," Dust said nervously. _Master? Is this Rapture?_

She tilted her head a little, asking, "Is everything ok, Master?

"Rapture, can I speak to you for a moment?" General Gaius said, taking her aside out of Dust's hearing range. Dust watched Rapture's face, going from a confused look to a shocked look then to an angry look. She said something back, but General Gaius shook his head and said something back.

"So that is Rapture. She is young and very energetic," Ahrah spoke up, no one else around to hear the sword speak.

"Yeah. She keeps calling me 'Master', though. I don't think I'm going to get used to that," Dust replied back.

"In order to pretend to be Cassius, it is something you'll have to get used to. I'm sure, though, that if you ask her she'll stop calling you that," Arah told him.

"I might do that," Dust said.

General Gaius and Rapture came back over, Rapture looking a little irritated. "Don't worry Master, I'll find the Moonbloods that did this and make sure they won't ever do that again."

"I told you already you will not. Disobey an order and I'm sure Cassius will have you do extra laps around the court yard again," General Gaius chided. "Now, why don't you go inform the royal physician that we'll be along shortly?"

Rapture gave a small growl in annoyance, but quickly left. General Gaius shook his head with a smile and led Dust through the castle, turning many corners before finally reaching a door. General Gaius opened the door and let Dust in first before entering and closing the door behind him. On one of the exam tables they saw Rapture sucking on a lollipop, her thick, fluffy tail twitching side to side. As she saw them walk in, she took the candy out of her mouth and said, "I already told them what you told me."

"Good, thank you. I know that you most likely ran out on your training session, so why don't you return and wait for us?" General Gaius told her.

"I'll tell the other apprentices that Master's back, too. Maybe I'll still have time to train with him," she replied, excited.

Rapture hopped off the table and darted out, still holding the candy in her hand. General Gaius sighed and shook his head. The doctor greeted them and told Dust to sit on one of the exam tables. About an hour later the doctor declared that he was in perfect health and only had amnesia. He said that with time and help it would eventually return. He even declared him well enough to resume Rapture's training, stating that the training routines may help trigger memories. With that said, General Gaius offered to show Dust where the training grounds were, Dust accepting the offer. They passed by a soldier and General Gaius whispered something to him, the soldier running off. They continued on their way until they heard the sounds of steel against steel. Stepping outside, they were greeted with the sounds of metal on metal as apprentices fought each other, testing their skills. It was easy to pick out Rapture among them. She was sparring with a young male fox roughly her age, his sword swings fluent and matching her strike for strike. She didn't seem to be struggling, instead she seemed to be studying. Dust watched as she parried a strike and closed the small gap between them, striking her foot at his chest. It was enough to wind and knock him down. Her training sword was at his throat as an older male raccoon declared the match in her favor.

"That is her current mentor, Captain Dusk. During the time you disappeared he took over her training. He's taught her some new techniques during the time you were gone, including analyzing her opponents moves," General Gaius informed Dust.

"I'm grateful he continued her teaching for me. Rapture will benefit from this later," he replied.

Captain Dusk noticed General Gaius and Dust and walked over, leaving Rapture and her opponent to take a small break. He nodded a greeting before saying, "Cassius, it's good to see you again. I'm assuming that since you're back you would like to take over Rapture's training again?"

"It's good to see you, too. And yes, please. If it's alright with her and you and his Highness approves of it." Dust said.

"I don't mind it at all and I'm certain he will. She's been excited to resume her teachings under you since you came back. I must say, it was a big surprise when she came running back here saying that you were back. We nearly didn't believe her until we heard that the others were saying the same thing," Captain Dusk said.

"It surprised us as well when we saw him. We nearly thought he was an impostor until we saw his skills in battle. His Highness's determination should be arriving soon in the meantime," General Gaius told them.

It was in that moment that a messenger arrived. The king approved of the switching of mentors from Captain Dusk back to Dust. They called Rapture over and told her the news. She jumped for joy and started bugging him when they would train and what he's going to teach her next. Dust replied that he would start the next day as their training time was nearly over. Rapture agreed to that and Captain Dusk told her to head back to training. She didn't argue and went back with General Gaius and Dust watching the sparring matches.

Later that night, General Gaius was in his office filling out paperwork. There was a knock at the and he told the person to come in. Rapture came in, shutting the door behind her.

"You asked to see me, General Gaius?" she asked.

"Yes, I did. I know you love reading books about myths and legends," he said.

"Yeah!" she confirmed.

"So I have a question. Do you happen to know what a Sen-Mithrarin is?"

"Sen-Mithrarin? I've never heard of that. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing. I thought I heard a Moonblood say something like that. Perhaps I misheard him."

"I wouldn't doubt that they said something like that. Knowing them they having something up their sleeve. Would you like me to see what I can find about it or ask Master Cassius and see what he knows?" Rapture asked.

"No, thank you though. Go ahead and head back to bed, Rapture. You have a busy day tomorrow with training," General Gaius told her, adding as an afterthought as she started to leave, "and no reading tonight."

Rapture gave a quick alright and left, leaving General Gaius to finish up his paperwork.

**AN: So I have introduced my FC Rapture. If it's weird that she's an apprentice to Cassius, well, I liked the idea ^^; After all, who knows if he had one or not? But as one can see she does have a small habit of staying up late reading various books, mostly ones about myths and legends. And it does land her in some trouble... frequently.**


	4. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DUST: AN ELYSIAN TALE! IT BELONGS TO ITS ORIGINAL OWNER! I ONLY OWN RAPTURE!**

The next day Dust headed towards the training grounds to begin training with Rapture. He felt weird there, unused to the soldiers giving him friendly greeting instead of attacking him. He felt that at any moment they would find out who he really was and attack him. When he reached the training grounds he saw Rapture over in a corner further away from everyone. As soon as he got over there she greeted him with a good morning. He had her start out with warm-ups before he had her move on to swordplay. He asked her what she was currently learning and her reply was fighting while outnumbered. He could understand that as it can get pretty tough, deadly even, when you're outnumbered. It was important that she learned the skill so that she could protect herself should she need to. Dust told her he'd be back and went to talk to the other mentors. After a few agreed to the training session he went back over to Rapture. He gave her one of the training swords that was laying nearby and told the apprentices that would be the "enemies" the rules as well as Rapture.

When Dust gave the signal to begin they started attacking in formation. They weren't making it easy for her as she constantly had to switch her attention to another opponent. Even though there were only three against her, it was still proving to be a struggle for her. Dust watched as she dodged one attack only to land in the way of another. She wasn't fairing well against them and by the time he called for a quick break, she had some minor bruises where the blows had landed.

"I knew I should have worked on that while he was gone," Rapture quietly berated to herself. "Now I'm just simply embarrassing myself in font of Master on my first day of training with him again."

"Looks like she's beating herself up again," one of the mentors observed, a black and white badger.

"Over the same thing as well. Rapture always was a poor learner at fighting against an ambush no matter how many times she was taught the lesson," another agreed.

Upon hearing this Dust asked, "She's having trouble learning how to handle an ambush?"

"She's always had trouble with ambushes. There were times when you would attack her from behind to try and teach her and she would end up defeated. Even her brother has admitted that she has trouble learning it," replied the badger mentor.

The other mentor, a brown mink, added, "Rapture's been mad about it since she knows that one going into this kind of field in the military requires knowing how to handle ambushes. She fears she'll fail as a student of yours, especially since getting a mentor such as you is near impossible. She was hoping to overcome that problem before you returned."

"I'll have to talk to her about it. I think a little extra training might help her," Dust said as he called Rapture over. "It is something that she'll overcome in time with help."

"Yes, Master Cassius?" she said as she came close enough. She looked a little worried.

"I've noticed you were having trouble during this training session. I also heard from the other mentors that this is a typical problem for you," Dust said.

The young grey wolf nodded her head. "I'm sorry I haven't improved on it at all. I-I've been trying though, but..."

"It's something that takes time. Sometimes it takes longer for some than it does for others. All you need is some more practice," Dust told her, easing some of her worry.

"That's what you said before you went off to the front lines. You spent eight months training me on it, but I failed still. How can you still keep me as your apprentice?" she asked.

"Because you have potential. I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't think you had any," Dust told her. He had a feeling that Cassius picked her for his apprentice because of that. It brightened her mood though and she ran off to join the other apprentices.

They trained all morning and a little into the afternoon, stopping only for a couple breaks and lunch. Some of the training included ambush tactics, most of which she ended up failing. At the end both of them were tired and bruised. Dust sent Rapture to get cleaned up after they returned the training weapons. She quickly hurried off, giving a quick greeting to General Gaius as she passed by him. Dust watched as he approached him and they exchanged a greeting when he was close enough.

"I see your first day of training with her went well," General Gaius said.

"Yes, it did. We're working on her weakness in ambushes. She was really worried that I'd be mad that she hasn't improved on that," Dust replied.

"She worries about that allot. It's important she learns how to handle herself when she's ambushed."

"Rapture so far passed two of the training courses."

"That's good. And by the way, there's a new apprentice joining the training sessions now," General Gaius informed Dust.

"Who?" Dust asked.

"Prince Karst will be joining the training sessions," he replied.

"Prince Karst?" Dust asked. He remembered seeing him in the throne room next to his parents. He heard that he had private training sessions as well as private lessons. Why would he join the regular training sessions?

As if he read Dust's mind General Gaius told him, "Apparently Prince Karst is wanting to join the regular sessions because he said the private ones are getting boring. He wants to be able to train with other apprentices instead of a training dummy it seems. It is a surprise, but starting tomorrow he'll be joining the training sessions."

"Alright. It'll be interesting to have a training session with him and see how he is," Dust said.

"His training is one of the best. Most likely he'll pair up with some of the more elite apprentices during training. Rapture might even have a chance of training with him. It's an honor for him to be joining the regular training sessions as very few of the royalty ever join," General Gaius told Dust.

"I'm sure all the apprentices will be wanting to train with him. It'll be a good experience for not only them but for the Prince as well," Dust agreed.

"Indeed. He'll get to know those he'll be leading better and their fighting styles. Prince Karst will be like his parents. He will be a good leader as well as a good fighter."

**AN: Almost a month later and I finally update this. Well, I had this chapter a quarter of the way written since November so... XD I've still been trying to find a decent plot for this and how exactly I should go about each chapter and sadly it's not easy x_x At least I've got a few parts already in mind. I'm also trying to keep the chapters long enough so that they don't seem short.**

**But I have introduced someone royal: Prince Karst. I wasn't quite sure about adding him at first, but I decided to in the end to add him. At first I decided to add no royalty at all, but when I'm thinking about how to type up the chapters (as well as a decent plot) and I'm reading a section in my physical science book about karst regions, it just kinda came to me XD**

**And thanks Alpha 001 for reviewing! I'm glad you like the idea of the role swap for Dust. And yeah, I figured giving him an apprentice would be a good addition as since we don't know if Cassius actually had one it would be interesting for him to have one. Since Rapture has been training under Cassius for six years it'll make even more interesting to see if she notices that Dust isn't actually Cassius. As for the grammatical errors, I'll go back through and see if I can find and fix them. Thanks for pointing them out.  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DUST: AN ELYSIAN TALE! IT BELONGS TO ITS ORIGINAL OWNER! I ONLY OWN RAPTURE AND PRINCE KARST!**

The training grounds were buzzing the next day as Prince Karst walked onto the training grounds with his mentor in tow. The apprentices had been training for a half hour and stopped for a break when they saw him. Everyone gave a respectful bow, the young fox prince waving it off. He told them that while they were training, he wasn't a prince, but just another apprentice. The girls were talking a little ways off, most likely about the prince, while the boys, including Karst, were debating between each other who was stronger.

For the next few minutes after Karst arrived the mentors discussed who was training with who and finally settled on group training. It was agreed that each group would get a chance to train with each other this way with different mentors, providing varied lessons in combat. It was also done this way as they knew that trouble was beginning to brew again after a couple weeks of no trouble. This time the Moonbloods were near Denham Village and there was also the trouble of the rivers and streams are beginning to dry up near Aurora Village. Any day now they would have to go take care of it. Who would go of course no one really knew.

Dust was hoping that he would go because if things went the way they did before then he would be able to stop it faster. Of course, he wasn't sure if he could save Denham this time, but he was sure going to try. He knew it would take allot of convincing on his part as he was sure that no one would let him go considering he was supposed to have amnesia. Still, Dust was going to try hardest to stop the Moonbloods, especially Fuse if he was leading them. He hoped this time he would be able to stop him or convince him to stand down.

A few hours later and training stopped for the day. As Dust was getting ready to head back with the others he was stopped by Karst.

"I heard you were wanting to go investigate the Moonbloods and Aurora's water problem," Karst said.

"Yes, I was. I want to go take care of the situations. I can't hang around the castle forever, I eventually will need to get back out there and do my job." _Of saving anyone who needs my help... _Dust silently added.

The fox hummed and looked thoughtful. "I can understand how you feel. After all, you are an assassin and you are good at what you do. You've only been here for a couple days and now you wish to go back out to the field. I can speak to my parents to see if they would allow you to go so soon if you would like."

"That would be great, thank you."

"If you do go, will you be bringing Rapture along with you? I know she has been wanting to go out on a mission with you to prove her skills. Besides, she has been getting bored hanging around here in the castle."

"I doubt it. It might be too dangerous for her to join. The Moonbloods might be strong, stronger than what she could handle. I can handle them, but she would not be able to."

"I see. She'll be disappointed then, but I'm sure she'll understand. The Moonbloods aren't too close to Denham Village currently and as for Aurora's water problem, the reports state that it hasn't gotten too bad. It's just noticeably lower than normal at the present moment. My parents still have some time left to decide who to send. If you are chosen to go, I'll be sure to inform you," Karst told Dust.

"Thank you."

Two weeks later an announcement was made about the decision of who was to go. Too everyone's surprise Dust was chosen. As the Moonblood's group was not very large, they decided that only one person was required to go deal with the situation. After dealing with the Moonbloods, the same person could go and find a solution to Aurora's water problem. General Gaius had shown concern about letting Dust go, but Dust had pretended enough to act like he had regained some memory thanks to Cassius' soul in him. Like Jin's memory of Zeplich Village, he used what he could of Cassius' memory to make it look like he was slowly regaining his memory. Not an easy task, but it was better than not being able to go and figure out what's going on. Rapture was upset when she was told not to go, but Dust's promise of maybe taking her next time made her a little happier.

"Just be careful of that one guy in Aurora Village when you get there!" she told him.

"Who?" Dust questioned. He figured that Cassius wouldn't really care, but he decided to listen to her to please her a little.

"I only met him once so I don't remember his name, but he's kinda... weird. He's got this thing about this box he carries with him. There was this one time he lost it and I happened to be in Aurora at the time delivering a message so I decided to help him find it. He told me not to open it for some reason so when I found it I tied a strip of leather around it so it wouldn't open if I dropped it. He asked me if I opened it when I returned it so just as a joke I said yes and it was full of nothing."

At the mention of the box and being told not to open it, Dust knew exactly who it was she was talking about. A little worried, he asked, "Did you open it?"

"Nope! But he truly thought I did and told me to go get beaten by some monsters. I threw the box at him and walked off," she said. With an odd look on her face she added, "A little later he was muttering something about the trees talking to him."

Dust just shook his head.

They dropped him off not too far from Abadis Forest. It was as close as the bomber could get without alerting the Moonbloods to their presence. Dust wasn't too sure how long he would be gone, but he was thankful that he was able to go. He walked into the forest, avoiding the monsters that he could and defeating the others. As he ventured deeper into the forest he saw the remains of a campsite, the fires still burning and the tents torn and shredded. He put the fires out before continuing on. It was a little before sunset when he decided to stop and camp for the night. Poking the fire with a stick, he decided to use the opportunity to discuss with Ahrah about what they learned so far.

"So far it's like this world is a parallel world compared to ours," Dust said.

"And yet it is similar. In this world Cassius is presumed dead, and most likely Jin is as well. However, I can not be certain. The Moonblood called you Sen-Mithrarin so they do recognize you in a way. Whether there is a connection between this world and ours I cannot say for sure," Ahrah replied.

"You're right. I have to wonder though if Fuse will be willing to talk. Last time we met him he wasn't willing to talk."

"Perhaps this time he might or perhaps he might not. Things seem to be different here. I can't say for certain if things will go the way we have before."

"Well whatever happens we're going to figure it out, Ahrah. But what bothers me is that the Moonbloods are attacking the Warmbloods. Something must be causing them to act this way. There's no way they would attack without a reason."

"I do not know. Whatever is causing them to act like this way will not reveal itself anytime soon. For now let us focus on the task at hand," Ahrah told Dust.

"You're right," Dust agreed. "You know, I've been thinking. What about Fidget and Ginger? If this really is another world then I don't think they would recognize me."

"Even if we do not meet them or they do not recognize you it will be fine. This is not our world after all."

"I guess..."

**AN: Two months later and I finally update X.X Sorry about the late updates! I admit I only watched the walkthrough for the game once when I started this. But now I'm at least getting a plot together! But it feels rushed with all the time skips I'm doing. If anything at least it's getting somewhere, right? But since I know I might get questions as to why Dust was picked, one does have to remember that while he was in Zeplich Village he did have a faint memory(?) of being there, just like with the view of Aurora Village. I'm assuming that he can remember a little of Jin and Cassius's memories so I decided to utilize that in this fanfic as him "regaining" his memories to go on the mission. And yeah, I decided to add a little humor to this by adding an incident where Rapture one time met Reed and had to find his box for him.**

**And thanks to everyone for the favorite/reviews/ follows of this! I had no idea this would be as good as it sounded, especially since I'm trying to go for an AU feel without it being AU. And for a fun fact about this, I was originally going to have Rapture tag along with Dust on his missions. When I got a better plot idea though I decided to change that to her staying.**


	6. Chapter 5

Uncertain of what was to come Dust continued his trek to Denham Village. He scaled the small cliffs with ease, the waterfalls roaring in the background in some parts. Avees were flying overhead, sometimes swooping down to attack Dust. He simply would use an aerial Dust Storm attack on them, effectively wiping them out. The florns were a bit more annoying in his opinion. When he came across one it would throw an electric ball at him. He remembered that temporarily silence Fidget if they were hit. Slime creatures, which was mainly found on the ground, were the easiest ones. With a parry from Ahrah a few fast slashes they died easily.

After a while longer of scaling the cliffs he came across a wooden bridge that spanned the deep valley he had climbed up. On the other side of it was a small marsh, the cattails growing in it swaying gently in the breeze as if nothing was wrong. The beasts that were roaming around immediately took notice of him and attacked. Dust had no problems with the beats, being has he had experience with them to defeat them. He would have liked it if Fidget was with him, helping him out with her energy blasts or even fireballs once she learned how to conjure them up. Her abilities made it easier to take out multiple opponents at once and when he was surrounded.

Dust sighed, thinking about her. He missed the nimbat's company, their conversations and her mischievous ways always brightened his mood. Her humor always seemed to brighten up his day when he was feeling down. He wondered how she and Ginger were doing, and how the Moonbloods were faring. He shook his, clearing his thoughts. He had a mission and this time he was going to save Denham Village. _I won't let it be destroyed like last time._

When he came to the scaffolds, he silently prayed that the campsite was not destroyed. However, what he saw was not what he had hoped for. His heart sank as he saw that the camp was in ruins and a poor soul that didn't make it out in time laid nearby. Imps and beasts were loitering in the destroyed camp, looking for any survivors or someone to come their way to meet the same fate. Dust looked around, saying, "This is just like last time. Fuse, please don't let this end up like last time."

Dust made quick work of beating them though, enabling him to continue onward. The wooden ramp that hung from the cliff roof still held on, even with the few gaping holes in it, forcing Dust to jump over them while using an Aerial Dust Storm to get across. As he reached the top, Dust came across another long wooden bridge. With this one being more out in the open and higher up the mountain, he was more exposed to the avees that flew about in the sky. However, that also left them vulnerable as well as they were easy targets to pluck out of the sky as they came close. There was a burning smell in the air, one that confirmed what he was thinking as he reached the other side.

"We need to hurry and put this fire out," Ahrah said.

"And fast," Dust agreed.

He went back a little ways on the bridge, using a Dust Storm to pluck a bomb fruit off a nearby tree, activating it. He quickly used his Dust Storm to blow it to him, making it follow him to a column of rock. The moment it came into contact with the rock it exploded, clearing the path as he proceeded along. Jumping up a few cliffs he darted to a couple rock columns. While it looked sturdy, he was able to break through both with a few slashes from Ahrah, releasing the trapped water to create a waterfall onto the flames below.

"As Fidget would say, it wasn't subtle, but it wasn't half bad," Dust remarked.

"Let us proceed quickly to stop Fuse," Ahrah said.

Dust made his way back down, taking out the beasts that tried to ambush him from above. With the flames now doused, the monsters were now coming at him. He took out the smaller monsters before taking on the giant. With a parry stunning him, the giant was slain quickly at the damage taken from Ahrah. Both Dust and Ahrah knew they were getting close. The increase of monsters signaled how close the duo was to their destination. Beasts, imps, and even giants came at him and slowed him down a little. The building on the other side of the bridge was on fire and the ground was littered with fallen trees that, too, were on fire. Hurrying to the center of the village, he found two Moonbloods. It appeared they were in a sort of argument, but over what Dust could not tell. There was no sign of Fuse though, much to his wonder. Getting as close as he could, he heard some of the conversation.

"What have you done? There was no need to slaughter these villagers!" the olive green Moonblood shouted.

"These were our orders, to destroy every Warmblood. You are too concerned with the Warmbloods," the blue Moonblood told him. "Are you starting to sympathize with them?"

"They have done nothing to us besides live in peace!"

The blue lizard closed his eyes. "I see. So you're going to betray your own kind."

"What? No!" he cried out.

"You leave me no choice!" the Moonblood drew his sword, raising it high. It was at that moment that Dust ran up and parried the oncoming attack, defending the Moonblood and catching both lizards by surprise.

"I don't care what orders you have. Attacking your fellow kind is not right," Dust told the Moonblood.

"And who are you to say, Warmblood? Any Moonblood who sides with your kind is a traitor. Fuse here is siding with you Warmbloods. The punishment for that is death!"

"Please see reason, Senith!" Fuse pleaded. "Why would we suddenly start attacking our own allies?"

"He's not going to listen to reason," Ahrah told them.

"Ahrah's right," Dust said as he looked at Fuse. "We have no choice but to fight him."

"Do you really want to fight me?" Senith asked. "Fighting me will mark you as a traitor, Fuse."

Fuse stood beside Dust, his sword ready, and said, "I may be betraying the Moonbloods, but it is better than betraying our own friends!"

"Then you can die alongside this Warmblood!" Senith shouted as he summoned fire down on the village, lighting it aflame. He drew his sword and attacked the duo.

The inferno roared around the duelists, ensuring that none escaped until the fight was over. Dust dodged the swing while Fuse blocked it. Dust came around Senith's side, his sword poised to strike. Ahrah clipped his armor as Senith moved out of the way. Fuse took advantage of that, slipping between Dust and slashing at Senith, creating deep cuts in his leather armor. Senith retaliated by throwing fireballs at them, giving Fuse burns along his arms and singeing Dust's uniform slightly. Fuse ran in when the last of the fireballs rushed past, swinging his sword against Senith's. Senith was unfazed by this, simply swatting Fuse aside with his sword. Dust closed the distance on between them, swinging his sword down as the blue Moonblood raised his in defense. Senith swung his blade across at Dust, causing Dust to parry the attack and effectively stun his opponent. Dust took advantage of Senith's stun to slash at him, cutting through the armor and dealing damage. Senith didn't stay stunned for long as he quickly started blocking and parrying all of Dust's swings. Fuse quickly recovered and attacked Senith from his side, leaving him open for Dust to finish the battle. Dust went in for the finishing move and ended the battle as the flames that engulfed the now ruined village faded to nothing but embers and ash.

As Senith laid on the ground, Fuse was at his side, saying, "Senith, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't standby and watch as we kill innocent Warmbloods when they have done nothing to us. Even if I had to fight you, I just simply couldn't."

"I never questioned the orders I was given, but perhaps... there was something wrong with the orders. Elder Gray Eyes has been acting strangely," Senith spoke.

"Wait, what do you mean Elder Gray eyes has been acting strange?" Dust asked.

"For the past few years Elder Gray Eyes hasn't been acting like himself. He's been plotting against the Warmbloods for sometime," Senith panted as his strength started to fade.

"Please Senith, hang on until I can get you help," Fuse pleaded his comrade.

"I'm sorry, Fuse. For everything. Sen-Mithrarin," the dying Moonblood looked at Dust, "I apologize for attacking you."

"There's no need to apologize. You were just following orders. But I have a question," Dust said. "How did you know I was a Sen-Mithrarin?"

"For a Moonblood, it is to sense your uniqueness. Two souls joined together to make a new being. It has been a very, very long time though since the last Sen-Mithrarin was created," Senith stated. "It is time for me to join the Life Thread. Farewell, Fuse, Sen-Mithrarin."

"Farewell, Senith," Fuse said to his fallen comrade as he died.

**AN: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I promise I haven't forgotten any of my fanfics at all! I just had writers block and some problems for this chapter that made is harder to type out. Real life issues weren't much help either. The problems mostly involved Fuse. Should he be good this time or remain the bad guy? Should I kill him off or let him live? Who takes his place if I make him good and keep him alive? Well, I decided that this since I'm making this a 'what if' world, I might as well make him good and sane. So I came up with some random Moonblood to kill off in his place. And yes I made the battle scene like Fuse's. Why? I couldn't think of a better battle scene and I decided to still destroy Denham Village. So I made Senith the pyro instead. I wasn't sure though if I should or not since I'm not positive that all Moonbloods can even use magic. Oh well. I also stink at death scenes.**

**As for sensing a Sen-Mithrarin, I figured that the Moonbloods must have some way of telling. After all, it was a Moonblood (Elder Gray Eyes) who created Dust. If it doesn't make sense, then I don't know. There's not much info on the Moonbloods X.X UPDATES WILL BE WHENEVER I CAN GET TO THEM!**


	7. Chapter 6

Working together Fuse and Dust buried the dead villagers and Senith. Throughout all this it was quiet except for the occasional question of if the other needed any help and how the other was doing. When all the dead was buried, they sat down outside what was once a village to rest. There was no sound the entire time. All the animals were scared off in the attack and had yet to return. In this silence, Dust decided to question Fuse.

"Fuse," Dust began, "what exactly has been going on with Elder Gray Eyes? How is he not acting like himself?"

Fuse sighed. "Truthfully, that is a question I would like to know the answer to as well."

"Do you know when it began?"

"The Moonbloods began attacking two years ago. Elder Gray Eyes, however, has been planning all this for three years, Mithrarin."

"Please, Dust is fine," Dust told Fuse. "Do you know what he's planning?"

"All I can say for certain is that he is planning on eradicating all of the Warmbloods, though for what reason I do not know. As soon as word of what has happened here reaches the others, I will be marked as a traitor and hunted. I have friends among the Moonbloods who won't attack me though. They may even help me and pass on information for me to give to the Warmbloods if they can't themselves. I'm sorry I do not know more."

Dust nodded his head and told him, "Thank you for your help though. Any information is better than nothing to figuring out what is going on. Can you do me a favor though? If you meet any soldiers from Salina, please don't tell them my real name. I'm pretending to be an assassin of theirs, Cassius, because of a situation beyond my control. Don't worry though, I'm on their side."

Fuse looked at him with suspicion before asking, "And what is this situation?"

"It's hard to explain."

"I believe that it is very possible that we ended up in this world somehow, but we are not certain as to how yet," Ahrah told Fuse.

"This world? Are you saying that you are from another world?" Fuse asked with confusion written on his face.

"Yes. Like Ahrah said though, we don't know how. I do know that it is similar to this world though."

Fuse was silent as he processed the information. Dust worried that Fuse might not believe them. He wouldn't blame him, after all. If he was told the same thing he probably wouldn't believe them either, and chances are he might even think the person was a little crazy.

"While it sounds a little far fetched, I'm inclined to believe you're speaking the truth. I find it hard to believe that a soldier from Salinus would not know of what's going on between Moonbloods and Warmbloods. Not only that, but no Moonblood has created a Sen-Mithrarin. You have my word I will not tell anyone your true name."

"Thank you for believing Ahrah and I. Is there any way we can repay you?"

"All I can ask is that you help save Elder Grey Eyes from his madness. He has always wanted peace, never war."

"I'll do what I can to save him."

Dust and Fuse talked for a few more minutes before bidding each other good-bye. Dust wandered through the forest in the direction of Aurora Village. He was grateful that it was only a few hours journey as the sun climbed into the sky, giving away to mid morning. If he made good time, he would reach his destination by noon.

"Last time we were in Aurora Village I didn't see Ginger anywhere. If Cassius is still alive, then perhaps Jin is as well," Dust commented.

"Zeplich Village hasn't been destroyed by Gaius as well. The possibilities of that is very high," Ahrah agreed. "But we cannot count the Moonbloods out. It is possible that they could have destroyed the village in this world."

"You're right. Denham wasn't destroyed by Fuse here, but it was still destroyed. There were no survivors this time, not even Sarahi," Dust said with a sigh, remembering seeing her body among the others. "They may not even have survived, but as long as there is a chance that Zeplich was spared this time, I'll just have to hope they did."

"Indeed."

...

In had been three and a half weeks since he had left to take care of the situations in Denham and Aurora. It would take a couple weeks for him to reach his destination, but another day to get there by foot. He wasn't sure if Cassius should even be back out in the field so soon, but he persisted and he eventually gave in. He trusted his friend knew what he was doing and would stay safe. Even Prince Karst had agreed after talking to him.

Rapture had naturally been eager about this, hoping she would finally be able to go out on a mission with her mentor. However, he had told her to stay and continue her training, citing that it might to into a battlefield if he wasn't able to evacuate the village in time or convince the Moonbloods to back down. Although she would eventually be on a battlefield, his friend knew that she still needed to work out some things regarding her weaknesses. Captain Dusk had taken over her training again, this time focusing on teaching her how to prevent herself from being ambushed as requested by Cassius.

_At least she understood the reason why and had behaved herself as he was leaving..._ General Gaius thought has he glanced at said she-wolf, who was rifling through some papers she had brought with her. Rapture had the day off from training and decided to help him with sorting and putting up the papers he finished. Since there wasn't any at the moment that needed to be filed away, she decided to look through some notes she had taken on something.

Curiosity finally got the best of him as he watched her flip back through an old tome she had also brought with her. Putting his pen down, he asked, "May I ask what you're reading?"

"Hmm?" Rapture looked up from the page she was reading, her finger still on the sentence she was focused on. "Oh! Remember when you asked me about what a Sen-Mithrarin was?"

"Yes, and I thought I had said to not worry about it."

She shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Curiosity got the better of me. Besides, if the Moonbloods said it then it must be important."

"Very true," he agreed. "Have you found anything?"

"Not much, but what I have found is interesting. Especially this one part about the Moonbloods and them..."

That part peaked his interest. "What does it say?"

Before she could respond to his question, there was a knock at the door. After General Gaius told the person to come in, an out of breath soldier shut the door behind him and quickly crossed the room to the desk General Gaius was seated at.

"This report just came in. It's very important you read it," the soldier told him, passing the papers to his superior.

As the general read the report, his face grew grimmer and grimmer. Rapture noticed this, her head tilting in a questioning manner. The apprentice stuck the notes in the tome and got up, walking over to where the two soldiers were. He couldn't believe the report he was reading. There was simply no way it could be true. But yet at the same time it somehow did.

"Does His Highness know?" General Gaius asked.

"Another soldier went to inform him as soon as it came in," the soldier responded.

"Are they on their way here now?"

"Yes. They'll be here soon."

"Good," he told the soldier. Turning to face the silently waiting apprentice, he said, "Rapture, you're coming with me. You need to hear this."

...

**AN: Sorry about the long, long wait everyone! I'll admit, I've gotten distracted by other things (schoolwork, games, anime) and completely neglected my fanfics. Well, it also probably doesn't help that I've gotta work out the little scenes and ensure I keep the characters in character while at the same time trying to maintain the feelings they would have in different situations. Writer's block sucks. Since in the game once Dust leaves to go to the map and we go to a cut scene with General Gaius, I figured I'd kinda mimic that a little. Plus I also used it to avoid writing about his trip to Aurora Village XD Again the time spent traveling is based off the map so again it might be off. **


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